Reports

Reports

REPORT: Submission of the briefing on TMG’s subsidies to ivory industry to the Governor
484 465 Japan Tiger Elephant Organization

On June 11, 2024, JTEF and Environmental Investigation Agency based in Washington D.C. submitted a briefing: “Tokyo Metropolitan Government Subsidies to Ivory Industry Stakeholders” to Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike (See the summary the briefing on EIA website). It revealed that Tokyo Metropolitan Government’s Bureau of Industrial and Labor Affairs has paid subsidies annually [yearly average of around 4 million JPY (33,000 USD)] to Tokyo’s leading ivory industry association with the goals of igniting the resumption of international ivory trade, increasing the domestic demand for ivory crafts and products, and facilitating the trade in ivory. Project Examples The ivory association described in the application form dated July 5th, 2021: “Currently, Namibia, Zimbabwe, South Africa and Botswana whose president was replaced and…

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REPORT: Three years after inscription of Iriomote Island on the World Heritage List
660 661 Japan Tiger Elephant Organization

JTEF Yamaneko Patrol published a report to assess the development of the management and protection of Iriomote Island, a World Heritage site, which were made by the State Party, give insights on an emerging issue, and provide recommendations and submitted it to IUCN that is responsible for monitoring World Natural Heritage sites on behalf of the World Heritage Committee (WHC). Unfortunately, JTEF & Yamaneko Patrol identified stagnant visitation controls and creation of new tourism business opportunity inside the World Heritage properties. Around three years have passed since July 26, 2021, when WHC adopted a decision that inscribes Iriomote Island and other areas in Japan on the World Heritage List, requesting the State Party to take immediate steps to improve the…

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PRESS RELEASE: Inevitable Challenges: Restriction of Tourist Visitation to Iriomote Island
663 645 Japan Tiger Elephant Organization

JTEF and its office in Iriomote Island: Yamaneko Patrol published a report on reducing levels of tourist visitation and strengthening the traffic management measures designed to reduce road fatalities of Iriomote cats. It aims to review the Japanese government’s report on its response to the World Heritage Committee’s decision. This report concluded that setting a specific allowable limit of the number of tourists to Iriomote Island which is to be considerably less than the one before Covid-19 pandemic is essential from the perspective of both reducing levels of tourist visitation and prevention of road fatalities of Iriomote cats. It was submitted to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) that is responsible for examining the response of Japanese government…

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REPORT: Ripe for Abuse: Japan’s ivory market
733 737 Japan Tiger Elephant Organization

Domestic ivory markets are on the agenda at CITES CoP19, and EIA and JTEF have released a short briefing focused on Japan’s domestic market, the most significant open market today. This report is prepared for briefing the facts and our views to the delegates to CoP19. Japan must recognize that any open ivory market contributes to illegal trade and poaching and must do its part to protect elephants by closing its domestic ivory market. CITES Parties must take decisive action at CoP19 to urge Japan to close its market.

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REPORT: Smugglers’ Source: Japan’s Legal Ivory Market – An Analysis of Chinese Court Decisions of Ivory Illegally Exported from Japan
1024 924 Japan Tiger Elephant Organization

TOKYO (November 1, 2022)— Japan Tiger and Elephant Fund released today a report: “Smugglers’ Source: Japan’s Legal Ivory Market –An Analysis of Chinese Court Decisions of Ivory Illegally Exported from Japan”. Thousands of elephants are killed every year to supply the trade in their ivory tusks. While international commercial trade in ivory has been banned by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and many Parties have taken steps to close their markets*, Japan’s domestic ivory market remains open, supported by the world’s largest ivory stockpile**. Legal domestic ivory markets threaten the effectiveness of the international ban on commercial ivory trade and undermine the efforts of Parties that have closed their ivory markets.…

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PRESS RELEASE: Nations meeting next week will realize how seriously Japan lags in addressing its domestic ivory market
1024 979 Japan Tiger Elephant Organization

TOKYO (February 28, 2022)— The Standing Committee (SC) to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) is going to discuss “Closure of Domestic Ivory Markets” at its 74th meeting on 7-11 March in Lyon. The working document prepared for discussion includes reports submitted by 10 countries/regions, including Japan, a non-elephant range state which maintains a legal domestic market at a time when many leading consumer nations have closed their markets to protect elephants from the threat of poaching to supply the ivory trade. The Government of Japan (GoJ) insists that “Japan has been implementing stringent measures to ensure that its domestic ivory market is not contributing to poaching or illegal trade”; however, a…

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PRESS RELEASE: Japan’s Domestic Bekko Market Dependent on Smuggled Tortoiseshell Risking the Extinction of Hawksbill Turtles
240 237 Japan Tiger Elephant Organization

Tokyo, Japan – June 30, 2021 Tokyo, Japan – July 1, 2021 A report is released today by the Japan Tiger and Elephant Fund (JTEF): “Dark Side of the Everlasting Tortoiseshell-Crafting in Japan”. The hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) is one of the seven species of sea turtles and is listed as “Critically Endangered” (CR) in the IUCN Red List. One of the major threats to hawksbills is illegal take for the purpose of commercial trade in its tortoiseshell; used exclusively as a raw material for crafts called “bekko zaiku (crafts)” in Japan. Japan was famously the world’s largest country importing tortoiseshell. All populations of hawksbill turtles were listed in Appendix I of the “Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species…

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PRESS RELEASE: Threat to Critically Endangered Hawksbill Turles: Japan’s Involvement in the Illegal Tortoiseshell Trade
659 723 Japan Tiger Elephant Organization

May 31, 2021 TOKYO—WWF, TRAFFIC and Japan Tiger and Elephant Fund (JTEF) released today a report: ”SHELL SHOCKED: JAPAN’S ROLE IN THE ILLEGAL TORTOISESHELL TRADE”. It reveals that recently the tortoiseshell of hawksbill turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata), has been increasingly smuggled into Japan. This active market in Japan of tortoiseshell crafts, called “Bekko craft” is contributing to the illegal international trade. Hawksbill turtles are one of the seven species of marine turtles and are listed as “Critically Endangered” (CR) in the IUCN Red List, After World War II, Japan grew to be the largest country importing tortoiseshell equivalent to tens of thousands of hawksbills every year. Japan bowed to international pressure and officially stopped importing hawksbill tortoiseshell in 1993, when more…

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